Shoe and shoe manufacture



Aug. 27, 1940. K. ENGEL SHOE AND SHOE MANUFACTURE Filed Sept. 8, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 27, 1940. K. ENGEL SHOE AND SHOEMANUFACT URE Filed Sept. 8, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 M/E/v TUP Aug. 27, 1940. I K; ENGEL 2,212,514

SHOE AND SHOE MANUFACTURE I Filed Sept. 8, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet g mhm' I Aug. 27, 1940. K.- ENGEL' 2,212,514

SHOE AND SHOE. MANUFACTURE Filed Sept. a, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented 27, 1940 UNITED STATES SHOE AND SHOE MANUFACTURE Karl Engel, Swampscott, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 8, 1936, Serial No. 99,691

5 Claims.

This invention relates to shoes and their manufacture and is herein illustrated in its application to the manufacture of a type of shoe the upper of which is so patterned that the shape of a foot is imparted thereto without the aid of a last by'positioning the bottom margin of the upper on the sole. A shoe of this type is disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 129,252, granted July 16, 1872, upon an application of George A. Richardson.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoe of the above type which may be produced at low cost while providing a high degree of comfort and service to the wearer. Accordingly, a feature of the invention comprises a shoe of the above type having a sole the upper surface of which is provided with a marginal channel which is bounded by a shoulder, an upper the bottom margin of which is turned inwardly and positioned in said channel and has its edge face arranged to abut said shoulder, and a. seam securing the inturned bottom margin of the upper to the sole the exposed stitches of which on the upper surface of the shoe bottom extend across the shoulder provided in the sole and across the adjacent edge face of the inturned margin of the upper and hold said edge face against said shoulder. If desired, the shoe bottom may be built up by positioning on 'a plane sole member a filler the edge face of which provides a shoulder against which the bottom margin of an upper may be positioned.

In another aspect the invention comprises a method of making shoes which consists in providing an upper with top and bottom openings both of which extend the full length of the upper, turning the bottom margin of the upper inwardly and positioning it on the margin of a sole provided with a raised central portion, locating the edge of said inturned margin in abutting relation to the edge face of said raised portion, then forming a zig-zag seam between the inturned margin of the upper and the inargin of said raised central portion thereby to secure the upper to the sole, and then completing the upper by securing a toe piece to the forepart of the upper edge to edge.

The invention is herein illustrated in its application to the manufacture of two types of shoes one of which has the general characteristics of a blucher type Shoe, this shoe and the method of making the same being the subject of my co-pending application Serial No. 303,445, filed November 8, 1939, which is a division of the present application.

The preferred method of forming the rear parts of the illustrated shoes is the subject of my co-pending application Serial No. 303,444, filed November 8, 1939, which is also a division of the present application.

These and other aspects and features of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating several embodiments of the product and several applications of the methods oi manufacturing the same.

In the drawings, beFig. 1 is a perspective view of a fiat sole mem- Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a filler member which overlies the sole member of Fig. 1 in the finished shoe; 1

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the sole member of Fig. 1 and the filler member of Fig. 2 ccmented together;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a partially completed moccasin type shoe provided with the sole and filler illustrated in Fig. 3; I

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the heel portion of a partially constructed upper taken substantially on the longitudinal median line of the rear portion of the upper;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5 showing the heel portion of an upper at a later stage in its construction;

' Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the operation of stitching together the bottom margins of the heel parts;

Fig. 8 is a. perspective view illustrating a trimming operation on the heel portion of the bottom margin of an upper;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the heel portion of an upper positioned on an anvil with part of its bottom margin turned inwardly;

Fig. 10 is a front elevation of the needle, presser foot and work support of a Puritan Fairstitch sewing machine with a portion of a par tially completed shoe such as that illustrated in Fig. 4 supported thereon;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a partially completed shoe such as that illustrated in Fig. 4 showing a partially completed zig-zag seam connecting the inturned margin of the upper to the sole and showing also certain operating parts of a sewing machine which forms said seam;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a moccasin type shoe such as that illustrated in the course of construction in Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a sectional view taken on the line XIII- -XIH of Fig. 12; 8

Fig. 14 is a perspective view of a sole for a single soled shoe;

Fig. 15 is a sectional View taken on the line XV--XV of Fig. 14; V

Fig. 16 is a plan view of a shoe the sole. illustrated in 14;

Fig. 17 is a perspective view of the shoe illustrated in Fig. 16; and

Fig. 18 is a sectional view taken on the line XVIII-XVIII of Fig. 16.

provided with The invention is illustrated as embodied in two types of shoes, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 12 and the other in Fig. 1'7. The shoe illustrated in Fig. 12 comprises a band of upper material 20 which provides the peripheral portion of the vamp and a blucher quarter 22 stitched thereto in the usual manner. The bottom margins of said upper parts are turned inwardly and stitched to a top sole or first extension sole 24. The top of the vamp member 20 is closed by an insert or toe piece 26 which is similar in its construction and arrangement to toe pieces commonly employed in the manufacture of moccasins. The shoe illustrated in Fig. 17 comprises a vamp 28 the top of which is open throughout substantially its entire length and is provided with a tongue 30 which is of about the same length as the vamp. The vamp 28 is stitched to a quarter 32 which has the same general shape as the rear part of a pump or slipper. The bottom margins of the vamp 28 and quarter 32 are turned inwardly and stitched to an outsole 34. In both types of shoes the shape of the shoe is predetermined by the form of the pattern, no last being employed in the manufacture of said shoes. In other words, the shoe upper parts are so formed that the shape of a foot is imparted thereto when the inturned bottom margin of the upper is stitched to the sole. It will be understood that it is desirable in manufacturing shoes by this method to locate the inturned bottom margin of the upper accurately on the sole before it is stitched thereto. In the illustrated shoes this is done by positioning the margin of the upper in a marginal recess provided in the sole and positioning the edge face of the upper margin against a shoulder which forms the inner wall of said recess. A suitable sole construction may be provided by forming a fiat sole member 36 (Fig. l) and a filler member 38 (Fig. 2) having the same shape as the sole member of Fig. l ona reduced scale and securing the filler member 38 to the sole member 36, preferably by cementing them together. The filler member 38 is centrally located on the sole member 36 with its edge face 40 uniformly spaced from the edge face 42 of the sole 36 throughout its entire periphery. Another suitable sole construction, illustrated in Figs. 14 and 15, comprises a sole member 44 the marginal portion of which is rabbeted in order to provide a recess 46 for the reception of the inturned margin of an upper and a shoulder 48 against which the edge face of said margin may be located and held while said margin is stitched to the sole. Preferably the depth of the marginal recess provided in the sole for the reception of the inturned margin of an upper is equivalent to the thickness of the upper margin, thus permitting the top surface of said margin to be located flush with the top surface of said sole, as illustrated in Figs. 10 and 18. If desired, the portion of the inturned margin of the upper between the seam 50 (Fig. 11) which secures said margin to a sole member and the edge face of said margin may be held flat againstthe margin of the sole by a zigzag seam 52 which,

' as illustrated in Fig. 11, crosses the line defined by the engagement of the edge face of said margin with the shoulder provided in the sole. It will be understood that when the zig-zag seam 52 is employed an outer sole 54 (Fig. 13) must be secured to the first extension sole, above referred to, through which the seam 52 extends. The zigzag seam 52 not only holds the inturned margin of the upper flat against the first extension sole but also assists in preventing a separation of the upper.

edge face of the inturned margin of the upper from the shoulder provided in the sole. If the sole construction illustrated in Figs. 3 and 13 is employed the zig-zag seam 52 also assists in holding the margin of the filler member 38 fiat against the sole member 36. If desired the zigzag seam 52 may be the sole means for securing the filler member 38 to the sole 35, thereby obviating the use of cement to secure said members together. If this method were employed it would, of course, be necessary to secure the filler 38 to the sole by temporary fastenings until the zig-zag seam has been sewn.

The shoe illustrated in Fig. 17 may be provided with a toe stiffener such, for example, as the stiffener member 56 illustrated in Fig. 18, which is located between the toe end of the vamp 2d and a downward extension 58 of the tongue 30. The toe stiffener is cemented to the adjacent surfaces of the vamp and the downward extension of the tongue and if desired the bottom margin of the toe stiffener may be secured to the bottom margin of the tongue by a seam 60. The toe stifiener may be formed from any suitable material. Sole leather, for example, has been found to be suitable for toe stiffeners of this type. The entire margin of the toe stiffener B is skived in order to avoid the formation of objectionable irregularities in the upper along the margin of the stiffener. No toe stiffener is employed in the manufacture of the shoe illustrated in Fig. 12 since it is the usual practice to omit the toe stiffener in moccasin type shoes.

For stiffening the heel portion of the shoe a molded counter, for example a counter 62 illustrated in Fig. 5, is preferably employed. In the shoe illustrated in Fig. 12 the counter is positioned between a counter cover 64 (Fig. 5) and the inner surface of the upper. The shoe illustrated in Fig. 17 has a quarter lining 66 between which and the inner surface of the upper the molded counter is positioned. In both constructions the margin of the counter flange is secured to the upper and lining by a seam 68 (Fig. 8). In'order to facilitate the stitching of the counter flange to the upper and lining the counter is tempered, for example by moistening it in water before it is inserted into the upper. After it has been inserted, the counter flange, for example the flange T0 of the counter 62 illustrated in Fig. 5, is bent downwardly into its position in Fig. 6 and stitched to the upper and lining while in that position. After the stitching operation the marginal upper andlinin g material, if any, projecting beyond the edge of the counter flange is trimmed off, for example by means of a hand knife 12 (Fig. 8). After the counter flange has been stitched to the upper and lining the united marginal materials may be readily bent inwardly on the original fold line of the counter flange. This operation may conveniently be performed by arranging the heel portion of the upper in inverted position on an anvil such, for example, as the anvil 14 illustrated in Fig. 9, said anvil being provided with a top plate having the general shape of the heel end of the With the upper in position on the anvil, as illustrated in Fig. 9, its bottom margin may readily be pounded or pressed over upon the top face of the anvil in order to cause it to extend inwardly.

In many of its aspects the novel method of manufacturing shoes provided by the present invention is substantially the same as applied to the manufacture of both of the shoes herein from the foregoing description- In both the single sole construction illustrated in Fig. 1'7 and the two sole construction illustrated in Fig. 12 the attachment of the inturned margin of the upper to a sole is effected by-a chain stitch seam (Figs. 13 and 18) which may conveniently be sewn on a machine such, for example, as a "Puritan Fairstitch sewing machine. The upper is positioned right-side-up for. the sewing operation, the sole to which the upper is to be stitched being mounted on the sewing machine work support 84 (Fig. 10) and located relatively to the needle 86 by an edge gage herein illustrated as a plate 88 secured to the work support 84. It will be understood thatthe inturned margin of the upper is positioned for the sewing operation by bringing its edge face into engagement with the shoulder provided in the margin of the sole. If the upper is secured directly to an outsole, as in the single-soled shoe illustrated in Fig. 1'7, the sole is provided with a stitch-receiving channel 96 (Fig. 15) which receives the chain portion of the seam (Fig. 18). In the manufacture of the shoe illustrated in Fig. 12 the upper is stitched to the first extension sole before the.

toe piece 26 is stitched to the top margin of its forepart. If the shoe illustrated in Fig. 12 is provided with a zig-zag seam as indicated at 52 in Fig. 11 this scam also is formed before the toe piece is stitched to the upper. In sewing this seam the shoe is positioned right-side-up in a suitable sewing machine, the shoe being positioned for the stitching operation by bringing the edge face of the sole into engagement with an edge gage or plate 92 (Fig. 11) which serves to locate the adjacent edge faces of the inturned margin of the upper and the filler 38 in alinement with the center of the needle opening 94 in the presser foot 96 illustrated in Fig. 11. If an outsole is to be provided it may be secured to the first extension sole in any known manner, for example by means of a lock stitch seam 96 extending through the outwardly projecting margin of the first extension sole and through the underlyingmargin of the outsole (Fig. 13). The outsole may be secured to the shoe bottom either before or after the toe piece 26 is secured to the vamp. The toe piece may be secured by means of a hand sewn seam if desired but pref erably it is stitched to the vamp by means of a curved needle lock stitch sewing machine provided with a work support constructed and arranged to enter the forepart of a moccasin or a moccasin type shoe and support the adjacent margins of the toe piece and the vamp for the stitching operation after said parts have been cemented together. A sewing machine provided with a work support of this type is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No.

1,950,386, granted March 13, 1934, on an application of Fred Ashworth.

It will be understood that the shoe illustrated in Fig. 12 may be constructed as a single sole shoe if desired, in which case the zig-zag seam 62 would, of course, be omitted. 'It will also be understood that the shoe illustrated in Fig. 17 may be provided with an outsole, in which case the zig-zag seam illustrated in Fig. 11] could be employed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A shoe comprising a sole the upper surface of which is provided with a marginal channel which is bounded by a shoulder, an upper the bottom margin of which is turned inwardly and positioned in said channel and has its edge face arranged to abut said shoulder, and a seam securing'the inturned bottom margin of the upper to the sole the exposed stitches of which on the upper surface of the shoe bottom extend across the shoulder provided in the sole and across the adjacent edge face of the inturned margin of the upper and hold said edge face against said shoulder.

-2. A shoe comprising a sole, an upper the bottom margin of which is turned inwardly and positioned on the margin of said sole, a filler positioned on the upper surface of the sole in the space enclosed by the edge face of said inturned margin, and a zig-zag seam securing said inturned margin and the margin of the filler to each other andto said sole.

3. A shoe comprising a sole, an upper the heel portion of which is provided with a lining and with a counter, the bottom margins of said upper, lining and counter being turned inwardly and positioned on the margin of said sole, a filler positioned on the upper surface of the sole in the space enclosed by the edge faces of the inturned margins of the upper, lining and counter, and a zigzag seam by which said intumedmargins and the margin of the filler are secured to each other and to said sole.

4. That method of making shoes which comprises providing an upper having top and bottom openings which extend the full length of the upper, providing a sole having a raised central portion and a marginal recess, manually turning the bottom margin of the upper inwardly and positioning it in the marginal recess provided in the sole, manually holding the inturned margin of the upper in said recess with its edge face abutting the edge face of the raised portion of the sole, securing the upper to the sole by amachine-sewn chainstitch seam while the parts are manually held in alinement and while the parts are so positioned that the inturned margin of the upper in the region of the stitching point a the raised central portion of the'sole thereby to secure the edge face of said inturned margin in abutting relation to the edge face of said raised portion.

5. That method of making shoes which comprises providing an upper with top and bottom openings both of which extend the full length of the upper, turning the bottom margin of the upper inwardly,. and positioning it on the margin of a sole provided with a raised central portion, forming a zig-zag seam between the inturned margin of the upper and the margin of the raised central portion of said sole thereby to secure the edge face of said inturned margin in abutting relation to the edge face of said raised portion, providing a toe piece the forward portion of which provides a permanent closure for the top of the forepart of the upper and the rear portion of which provides a loose tongue, positioning the edge face of the forward portion of said toe piece in abutting relation to the top edge face of the forepart of the upper, and permanently seeming said edge faces together.

man-on. 

